


Metamorphosis

by LouiseC



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen, M/M, could be gen or M/M who the hell knows with these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-07 02:03:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/742882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouiseC/pseuds/LouiseC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the things that change us come in unexpected ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Metamorphosis

**Author's Note:**

> Includes references to the children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. If you've not read it, or it's been a while, don't worry. But if you want to, here is the Saturday page:  
> 
> 
> And if you want, a 2 min video of the author reading it (you can see some pictures)  
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWfy2CC8few

The fresh faced Ensign pushed back the flap of the communications tent, still angry that he'd been stuck with the errand because of a prank played on him. Hardly fair considering it was not his fault. Then again, nobody ever said the US Navy would be fair. He was about to address the officer manning the equipment, when he heard voices in the tent.

"He nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and…"

"…He was a beautiful butterfly!"

"That's right, baby girl," Lieutenant Roberts smiles brightly at the small girl on the comm screen. "Beautiful just like you and Mommy."

"Mommy says it's bed time," she says sadly. "I don't wanna go."

Roberts sighs. "I know baby girl. I don't want you to go either. But, you close your eyes and dream sweet dreams and it will be one sleep closer until I come home, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, angel. With all my heart," he swallows heavily. "Give Mommy a big kiss from me when she tucks you in," he asks, having already exchanged goodbyes with his wife. They both know the comfort it brings to their small daughter to be the one to end the call, the measure of control it gives her in an otherwise overwhelming situation.

"Goodnight." She waves and the screen returns to standby mode.

Roberts sniffs as quietly as he can and checks himself before pushing back from the fold up desk. He needs to stand by the tent entrance for some fresh air, it's suddenly stifling under the canvas. He turns towards the door but stops when he sees someone else is there.

"I didn't hear you come in," he addresses the Ensign who snaps him a salute. "At ease," he nods.

"I, uh, just wanted to get the intelligence update from CentCom."

"You're new here," Roberts returns to the terminal to set it up for the junior officer to enter his secure login details.

"Just transferred in."

"I'm sorry about before."

The Ensign shrugs. "You miss your kids. Nothing to be sorry about."

"You have kids?" Roberts asks before stepping back to let the other officer have the chair.

He shakes his head. "No. But my dad is a cop, he missed a lot of things when I was growing up."

"It's not quite the same."

"No, I suppose it isn't." He logs in and swallows. He wants to say that surely it makes it harder, keeping that close connection to home when he should be totally focussed on the job at hand. But that would be so far over the line into insubordination that he'd find his ass, well, probably transferred somewhere even less bearable than the sandy hellhole of this first assignment.

"The two of you close?"

The Ensign shrugs again. "No. Maybe? He was always getting called to crime scenes at odd hours and then my mom died a few years ago. He got distant and just a couple of months after, I found myself in Army/Navy college on the fast track to Annapolis." Shut up shut up, his internal voice is shouting at him. Serious over sharing alert.

But something about the older man makes him willing to share. Maybe its because he'd seen the love he has for his kids, then how quickly he was embarrassed at being caught. There was something kind of wrong about that. So the Ensign continues. "Even when he was home, he never read me a bedtime story it just wasn't how he was." He turns to the senior officer and looks him in the eye. "You do what you do for family, Lieutanant. And don't you let anyone give you shit for it. If I could give you an order, I would. So, just consider it a strong request from a son."

"Thank you," Roberts clamps his hand on the Ensign's shoulder and squeezes. "And thank you for your discretion too."

Over the next few weeks, Ensign McGarrett makes sure he volunteers to go to the comms tent to download the midday updates. Just in case someone else less understanding than himself stumbles into the Roberts' family time. And if he ends up knowing off by heart the dietary habits of certain larval insects, then that is nobody's business.

 

 

 

 

Steve's career marches on, he transfers out of that unit after only a few months and before he knows it, he finds himself in BUDS. The memories of home and places he's already served grow dim under the constant exhaustion, both mental and physical. He didn't serve with Roberts again, never looked him up or anything like that. But their encounter that one day and for the weeks after stuck with Steve. He found himself quietly volunteering to stand watches over Christmas and other holidays and when in the field, he usually gave most if not all of his communication time to guys with families. He didn't really have anyone to call home to anyway. He and his dad exchanged letters every now and then and the measured, controlled contents of basically empty sentiment suited them both perfectly.

He honestly never thinks about the picture book that he knows by heart but has never read. Until one day, no longer a SEAL but a taskforce leader, he watches his partner unpack his lunch bag and blurts the first thing that comes to mind.

"You're going to die of a heart attack, Danno."

Danny looks up. "Statistically, I'm more likely to die in a shower of fiery bullets courtesy of my trigger-happy partner."

"You're exaggerating," Steve shrugs, pushing off the doorframe and crossing to the desk so as to better investigate the food laid out across it. "A cupcake _and_ a slice of pie? Really?"

"What? Grace made them for me!"

"Uh huh. And did she also make the cheese and salami sandwich?"

"Um…"

"And a pickle!" Steve grins. "Oh you know what this is like?"

"Please, enlighten me," Danny scowls.

"It's like the caterpillar's lunch! But not the good stuff, y'know the fruity days. This is Saturday's lunch," he says triumphantly. "If you're always eating like this, no wonder you're constantly bellyaching about everything."

"I do not bellyache, I observe and report on… Wait a minute. How the hell do you even know about what a character in a children's book eats for lunch?"

Steve shrugs, "I know things."

"Yeah you do. You know the correct ratio of explosive powder to detonation force, you know how long to spend coming up from a dive to prevent the bends. You don't know The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

"There's lots you don't know about me, Danno," Steve waggles his eyebrows and makes his escape, leaving his stunned partner to his unholy collection of Saturday's lunch.

 

 

 

 

"McGarrett, you're up!" shouts the sailor in charge of the communication roster. With things as tight as they are for this most important of missions, time to call home is short and very closely monitored. Everyone in line is anxious to speak to their loved ones, a certain Lieutenant Commander among them. Steve strides forward and sits, logging into the secure connection and hoping to hell that somebody is there to answer his call.

"Uncle Steve!" Grace screeches as her face comes into focus. She's in Danny's office and not at all who he had expected to answer.

"Gracie, what a great surprise! Where's Danno?"

"They're all downstairs, tightening the screws on some scumbag they caught this morning. Mom's very busy this week so I get to spend every night with Danno!"

"That's great, sweetheart." He tries to keep the disappointment from his voice, that he won't be able to talk to Danny. It's going to be the last chance before they go dark. He shakes his head, realising that she's talking about something and he's missing it.

"And then Tommy said that if you fall asleep, the spider can lay eggs in your ear and the babies hatch in your brain. I said that was stupid but he said his cousin's friend died from it and… Uncle Steve, he's lying, right?"

"Uh. Yeah I'm pretty sure that can't happen."

"Good. Because I hate insects."

"Well, spiders aren't insects, they're…"

"Arachnids. I know. I just wish they were all like butterflies that's all. You don't ever hear of someone dying because a butterfly laying eggs in their ear."

"No," Steve chuckles. "I don't suppose you do."

"I'm doing a project on butterflies. I posted you a picture I drew of a butterfly but Danno said you probably didn't get it yet."

"No. Mail takes a really long time."

"That's okay. It's on it's way. And now you know it is coming, maybe the time will go faster until you can come home!"

Steve's reminded of a conversation from long, long ago. "The time's always slow when I'm away from my family, but I can't wait to open it." He swallows. "Gracie, did Danno ever read you the book about the greedy caterpillar when you were littler?"

"Yeah!" she exclaims. "It's so pretty, I have it in my bag. I based my butterfly on the one in the book. It's really a book for babies but my teacher said it was still good for us to use and learn about lifecycles."

"It is." Steve swallows again, his voice thick in his throat. "Gracie, I know you're a big girl now but I miss reading you your chapter before bed."

"I miss you too."

"Can I tell you a story anyway? Not a big-girl story, but a long time ago, an officer told this story to his little girl every chance he could and I'd like to tell it to you."

He is met with silence and fears the connection has been lost.

"Grace?"

"We're here, Steve."

"Danny," he swallows yet again but this time, seeing his partner's face come in from the side of the screen as the man sits and hauls his daughter onto his lap, the battle to keep everything inside is futile. He lets the tears, mostly of joy but of other things too, roll down his face.

"Uncle Steve's gonna tell me a story," Grace says excitedly.

"He is?" If Danny is surprised, he doesn't show it. "Okay then."

"Uh, in her bag, she says she's got…" He sees Danny lean down and whisper something to Grace who nods and clambers off his lap, then back up again with the book in his hand.

"Okay, got it. You want me to hold it up so you can see the words and pictures?"

Steve shakes his head. "No, baby girl. I don't need to see the book. I just need to see you, okay?"

"Okay," she wipes a tear from her cheek and Danny's eyes are looking pretty wet too. "Ready."

"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf…"

 

 

 

Steve never does get the picture but it doesn't matter. There are a dozen more like it on his fridge and his own beautiful butterfly running around his backyard, creating havoc with her father and their dog.


End file.
